


In the Waves

by Dionte



Series: Chosen Week 2019 [6]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: F/M, Genis is a sad child, Ocean, Pre-Relationship, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 16:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17410571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionte/pseuds/Dionte
Summary: Colette had never learned to swim in her sixteen years of life. Zelos decided to remedy that.For Chosen Week 2019, Day 6: Learning to Swim





	In the Waves

The beach was shining, bright, and beautiful. She’d seen it a few times before, both here in Tethe’alla and Sylvarant, but there was something different about the beach in Altamira. Raine had mentioned it might be the commercialization, but Colette wasn’t sure what that meant.

 

But here she was!

 

On a beautiful beach.

 

… By herself.

 

She dragged a finger through the sand. Everyone else was having fun, or just back in their rooms, but she didn’t know what to do. She had never gotten to play at a beach before, and she just felt lost.

 

“Hey there, little angel. What’re you doing alone here?”

 

Colette looked up to see Zelos, in his uh… Swimsuit. She gave a smile, though she wasn’t able to muster much energy into it.

 

“Oh, um, I… I’m just waiting, I guess.”

 

Zelos rose an eyebrow at her, a bit of a frown appearing. “Waiting? What are you waiting for?”

 

Colette pouted, continuing to draw shapes in the sand. Now she just felt kind of pathetic. She should have thought of a better explanation. Because she was waiting- waiting for Lloyd and Genis to come over and teach her how to play on the beach. But she had no idea how long that would take.

 

“N-nothing?”

 

Zelos was staring at her. “Seriously? You’re here, on a beautiful beach, by yourself, making shapes in the sand and pouting, and you think I’d believe that everything’s fine?”

 

Colette’s eyes were wide. Sometimes she forgot how extremely observant Zelos was. “N-no! I just… I didn’t want to bother anyone.”

 

Zelos plopped down on the beach with her, giving her a look. “You aren’t a bother, angel. Now c’mon, tell your great hero Zelos what’s actually going on.”

 

Colette sighed, resting her head on her knees. “... I, um. I’ve never gotten to play at the beach before. I don’t know what to do, and Lloyd said he and Genis would teach me, but…”

 

“But Lloyd’s gone gallivanting off while you’re waiting for him.”

 

She felt her heart drop, because of course Zelos knew exactly what happened. She heard him shifting next to her, and when she looked up, he was holding a hand out to her.

 

“C’mon. I’ll teach you how to swim, and you can wow Lloyd when he gets back.”

 

“R-really?”

 

“Really.”

 

Colette grabbed his hand, and beamed at him. He returned the smile with a smaller, almost embarrassed one.

 

She always loved the moments she got to see that genuine soft side of Zelos.

 

He led her into the water, to an area where there were less people. They didn’t stop until the water was reaching Colette’s chest, and then Zelos stopped, talking a bit about what he was going to do.

 

“First off, you’ll learn how to tread water.”

 

“Tread water?”

 

“Yeah, just staying in place but not touching the ground. You kinda just circle your arms around like this, as well as your legs.”

 

Colette watched attentively then copied Zelos’s actions, giving a grin when she could keep her head above the water without touching the ground.

 

He nodded at her. “Fantastic. Now, I’m gonna move away, try to get to me, okay?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

Zelos didn’t move far, but Colette struggled to swim over to him, until she realized that circular motion worked for more than just staying in place. As she reached him though, she let her guard down and flailed for a moment, reaching desperately for him. And suddenly, her arms were wrapped tightly around Zelos’s neck.

 

“Don’t worry, angel. I’ve gotcha.”

 

Colette loosened her grip a bit, and Zelos chuckled.

 

“If you want, keep your hands on my arm, but try kicking around the water. Get used to how moving in water feels.”

 

Colette looked up to him, and nodded, though she was a bit nervous to let go of him. She kicked out behind them, feeling as the water swirled and moved with her legs. As she did it more, she felt calmer, hands softly grasping onto Zelos’s biceps.

 

Zelos shifter to be gripping only one hand, and gave an encouraging grin. “We’re gonna swim a little like this. Don’t worry, I’ll be right here.”

 

Colette nodded, and it was a lot easier to swim with Zelos cutting through the water right beside her.

 

“How did you learn to swim, Zelos?”

 

“Parties and lessons. As the Chosen, a lot of people were worried about me drowning, so I had to at least learn the basics.”

 

“In Sylvarant everyone was so worried about me drowning they wouldn’t even let me near any dangers.”

 

“Heh. Strange how overprotectiveness can go two ways like that.”

 

“I guess so, but I-”

 

“Colette!”

 

They turned to the intrusion.

 

Lloyd and Genis were on the beach, Lloyd waving at her enthusiastically.

 

She felt a little sad, now that she’d been having such a fun time with Zelos.

 

“Welp. I’m sure you’ll all have fun, angel.”

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

Zelos laughed, giving her a wink. “Don’t you worry little angel, I’ve got some lovely ladies on shore to introduce myself to.”

 

They left the water together, Lloyd and Genis swarming her as Zelos slunk off to some other corner of the beach.

 

“He didn’t do anything to you, did he Colette?” Genis questioned.

 

Colette shook her head, giving a smile. “He was just teaching me how to swim.”

 

Lloyd frowned, “what, Zelos knows how to swim? I’ve never actually seen him get near the water before.”

 

“Yeah he’s always-” Genis gave a sour look to where Zelos was currently talking to a group of girls. Laughter erupted from them. “Talking to girls instead.”

 

“Ah, well, he-”

 

“C’mon, let’s catch some clams!”

 

Lloyd ran off, Genis groaning but following. “Lloyd, I already told you, there aren’t going to be clams!”

 

Colette glanced behind her, and she swore for a moment Zelos was staring at her too, but then he was back to entertaining the ladies surrounding him. She followed after Lloyd and Genis.

 

They played for a long time, Colette learning how to dive and having a contest for who could find the most shells. Lloyd won, but while he lauded his victory with a joyful smile, her and Genis exchanged their personal favorite shells.

 

“So, Zelos taught you how to swim, right?”

 

“Yeah. The basics at least.”

 

Genis sighed, hiding more in the shade of his hat. “Well, I can’t say I like you two hanging out like that, but it was nice of him, I guess.”

 

“Hey, Genis, why don’t you like Zelos?”

 

Genis frowned, sighed, and sunk into thought. “I’m not completely sure. I wouldn’t say that I hate him or anything, but…” he paused. “Sometimes I feel like he’s stealing things that are important to me.”

 

Colette sometimes forgot just how lonely Genis was.

 

“Anyway, if he helped you, you should thank him.” Genis was looking out at the ocean, and she could tell his thoughts were far away. “He should know how you feel.”

 

She knew his advice wasn’t towards her anymore. They stood there in silence, before Genis finally turned back to her.

 

“I’m going back to the hotel. I’ll see you later, Colette.”

 

“Yeah. See you later, Genis.”

 

She stared at the horizon for a while, listening to the ocean waves. Eventually, she heard some excitement behind her, and turned to see a souvenir stand being rolled in.

 

Bottles of sand and shells, and jewelry was on the cart. Thinking about what Genis said, Colette ran towards it and began looking at their wares. A necklace, fairly simple, but she thought Zelos might like it. After scrambling the gald together for it, she began running around the city to search for him.

 

In the end, she found him lounging in the hotel, overlooking the city with his hair wrapped in a towel.

 

“Zelos!”

 

He turned to look at her, grinning when he saw who it was. “Hello, dear angel! How was the rest of your time at the beach?”

 

“It was fun!”

 

She sat beside him, and he cocked his head to the side. “Something you want?”

 

“I, uh. I wanted to thank you. For teaching me.”

 

She leaned forward, unclasping the necklace and fastening it around Zelos’s neck. It didn’t seem to match the quality of the clothes Zelos usually wore, and Zelos stared at her for a moment, before pulling the necklace forward a bit to look at it himself.

 

After he’d examined it, a smile stretched across his face, and he began to laugh. His hand reached forward and ruffled her hair, Colette pouting.

 

“Thanks, angel.”

 

“A-ah! You’re welcome!”

 

Zelos leaned toward her, raising an eyebrow. “Now, Colette, you better head back to your room. Gotta rinse off after a dip in the ocean, kay?”

 

“Oh! Really?”

 

“Yes. Now go, we’ll all be eating together for supper.”

 

“Right! Later, Zelos!”

 

As Colette got onto the elevator, she looked back for a moment, seeing Zelos looking at the shell necklace with a smile as the doors closed.


End file.
